Killtoberfest 3: Wrap-up

One of the great insights of psychoanalysis is that you never really want an object, you only want the wanting, which means the solution is to set your sights on an impossible ideal and work hard to reach it. You won’t. That’s not just okay, that’s the point. It’s ok if you fantasize about knowing kung fu if you then try to actually learn kung fu, eventually you will understand you can never really know kung fu, and then you will die. And it will have been worth it.– The Last Psychiatrist

Okay, so I did not succeed in my quest to watch and review 31 horror films during the month of October. But I tried, and it was worth it. This year’s reviews are longer, better, and more detailed than ever before, so I’m as proud of these 22 films as I was of last year’s 55 or the first year’s 39. And even though I caught my share of dogs this time around, I also found some genuinely great ones. Which were which? Keep reading for the full list of awards.

Best movie I hadn’t seen before: Taxidermia
Worst movie: Boxing Helena (runner up: The Eye)
Best foreign film: Taxidermia
Scariest movie: Suicide Club
Most romantic movie: Altered StatesMost innovative movie: Nosferatu (1922) (runner up: The Last Broadcast)
Best twist: Kill List (the only good part of the movie, in fact)
Worst twist: Boxing Helena (runner up: High Tension)
Best suicide: the end of Taxidermia
Best kill: the “beast” murder in The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Most gut-wrenching kill: Heavenly Creatures
Best performance, ensemble: everyone in eXistenZ
Best performance, female: Angie Dickinson in Dressed to Kill
Best performance, male: William Hurt in Altered States (runner up: TIE, Max Schreck, Klaus Kinski, and Willem Dafoe all in the same role)Best scene: Max Schreck gets drunk, Shadow of the Vampire (runner up: schoolkids on the rooftop, Suicide Club)
Best cinematography: I Saw the Devil (runner up: As Above, So Below)
Best sound design: High Tension
Best editing: Altered States
Best screenplay: eXistenZ (runner up: Suicide Club)
Best director: György Pálfi, Taxidermia
Best musical theme: Zombi 2
Best production design: The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Best remake: Shadow of the Vampire (runner up: Dressed to Kill)
Movie that most needs a remake: The Last Broadcast
My favorite review: Taxidermia (runner up: The Town That Dreaded Sundown)
Best movie that won no other category here: The Lost Boys

And now, unique to this year, the best movie in each sounder:

Horror of the 1970s: The Abominable Dr. PhibesHorror of the 1980s: Altered StatesExtreme: TaxidermiaTerror out of Asia: Suicide ClubFound footage: The Last BroadcastNosferatu: Shadow of the VampireAre these even horror movies?: Dressed to Kill

Thanks to everyone for reading and watching! Click here to find all my Killtoberfest reviews, past and present. And tune in next October for Killtoberfest IV: The Final Chapter.